Van der Wielen, who this year became executive chairman of FPI, exited two markets in the review as part of his stated overarching strategy to de-risk, fix and grow the business.
He said the reason for the Japan exit was because the business “did not effectively hold an adequate licence in Japan, and in the international offshore market there needs to be a focus on holding appropriate licences in the required jurisdictions to ensure compliance in each country”.
FPI also withdrew from Germany because of “very low profitability and the level of capital guarantees required in this market”.
However, he told International Adviser that FPI has been “working with the Japanese Financial Services Agency over the past three years on its existing portfolio and has notified them of its intention to apply for a capital redemption licence in Japan over the next six months”.
The Capital Redemption licence would give FPI the approval to distribute investment-based products only within Japan.
In last month’s life trends profile, Van Der Wielen said that what FPI has done extremely well in the past was in having four very valuable long-term licences in Hong Kong, Singapore, UAE and the Isle of Man.
Since January this year, FPI had implemented strong guidance on jurisdictions which has translated into where and how it will write business, and from what countries, he said.
Another international life company, Hansard Global, said in its half-year results that it had suspended accepting new business from Japan but that it was going to “widen the range of target jurisdictions”.
